AlterNet has republished a real eye-opener from The Arab Weekly about growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The thesis of the piece is that while "mutual deterrence" has provided for an uneasy ceasefire, the conflict in Syria has made it clear that a new war is almost certain — and it will "dwarf" the 2006 conflict:

The focus on Hezbollah in recent years has been on the party’s intervention in Syria rather than its 3-decade struggle against Israel. But Hezbollah’s leadership is acutely aware that an Israeli government may conclude that there will never be a better time to launch an offensive against its old enemy than while Hezbollah is fighting in Syria.

Hezbollah is still very focused on the front with Israel with many of its top fighters, especially anti-tank missile teams and rocket units, remaining in Lebanon rather than being deployed to Syria.

Despite Russia’s alliance with Iran and Hezbollah in Syria, Israel has reportedly carried out a number of airstrikes against weapons convoys heading to Lebanon, vowing that it won’t let advanced missile systems or chemical weapons fall into Hezbollah’s hands.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that Hezbollah has played a decisive role in combating ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria — which will make any future Israeli war against Hezbollah a serious diplomatic crisis.

Israel has been providing logistic support and medical assistance to opposition forces – including Jabhet al-Nusra terror organization – fighting President Bashar Assad.

Israeli warplanes have repeatedly targeted Syrian Army positions under the pretext of preventing sophisticated weapons from reaching the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Yes, Netanyahu came to Moscow and cried about Iran. But if you think Israel is interested in joining the real world — think again.

Anyone is free to republish, copy, and redistribute the text in this content (but not the images or videos) in any medium or format, with the right to remix, transform, and build upon it, even commercially, as long as they provide a backlink and credit to Russia Insider. It is not necessary to notify Russia Insider. Licensed Creative Commons.